The Interview
by jooliahoolia
Summary: Tom Riddle surprised the wizarding world and the professors who'd had such high hopes for him when he took a job at Borgin and Burke's. How did he end up getting that job?


p class="p1"span class="s1"If Tom Riddle had been tanner and less adept at managing his emotions, he would have blanched at the question now posed to him. Mr. Borgin, meanwhile, appeared to have no qualms about this question; he likely considered it a simple matter of routine after what had been an unusually successful interview./span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1"And it had been a successful interview, even though an honest answer now was likely to prevent Tom from getting the job he had so coveted. Where else would he be paid for scoping out potential Horcrux's present homes? /span/p  
p class="p1" style="text-align: center;"span class="s1"* * */span/p  
p class="p2"The morning of the interview was overcast and gloomy, an auspicious sign for both the young master of deceit and the older, unsavory pair of interviewers. Tom Riddle was fresh out of Hogwarts, still young but hardly innocent. As he had only split his soul twice at this point, he was still handsome and charming. Today, with his usual suaveness cranked up a few notches, there was no way that Borgin and Burke would deny him his dream job./p  
p class="p1"span class="s1"As Tom walked through Knockturn Alley, he laughed inside at what his teachers, particularly that bothersome old Slughorn, would think when they heard of his new position. Old Sluggy had been so positive that Tom would go on to great things, climbing the steps to Minister of Magic two at a time. Nobody expected him to become a shop boy, but, then again, he would eventually outshine all their expectations./span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1"Borgin and Burke, meanwhile, were eager for young Riddle's arrival. Their shop, while never exactly busy, had a reasonable amount of traffic and they could use some help. If this boy proved to be as charming in person as his owl asking for an application had been, he could easily be used to add to their repertoire of rare and valuable items. In particular, old Hepzibah Smith was hoarding artifacts from the founders, they were sure of it./span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1"The chimes above the door (made from silver-coated thief's fingers, as Borgin was fond of the hoodlums who would typically make one trip into the store) rang as Tom confidently walked in to Borgin and Burke's./span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1""Ah, you must be Tom," said Burke, who had just come out of the dark back room. "Come with me; we're waiting for you."/span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1"Tom obediently followed, while Burke joined Borgin behind the other side of the table./span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1""Hello, Mr. Riddle," said Burke. "We're glad you could join us today. I understand you're just out of Hogwarts, so you probably won't know that this interview will be in a different style than others./span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1""First, we want you to distinguish between enchanted or cursed objects and Muggle ones," Burke continued, pointing to the row of items laying on the table. A wizened hand, a misshapen candle, an ornate opal necklace, a simpler pearl one and a human skull sat in between Tom and the shopowners/span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1"Tom picked up the hand, turning it back in forth in his own. He closed his eyes, concentrating solely on the grotesque object he was handling. "This is magical," he said finally. "If I'm correct, it's the famed Hand of Glory, but it won't work unless a non-magical candle is inserted."/span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1"Burke nodded as Tom stared at the opal necklace. "This piece is quite obviously cursed," he concluded. "I would not even risk touching it."/span/p  
p class="p2"Borgin just barely refrained from clapping his hands in excitement. They had never had an interviewee survive the test of the opal necklace; indeed, several had died from picking the cursed piece of jewelry up./p  
p class="p1"span class="s1"Tom barely glanced at the pearl necklace before declaring it "a simple piece of Mudblood creation, and shoddy even at that." He gave the skull the same cursory examination before declaring it free of any enchantment./span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1""Very good, Mr. Riddle," said Burke, as Tom looked up expectantly. "Now, on to the second stage of your interview. Mr. Borgin will pretend to be a customer possessing the Hand of Glory, and I want you to persuade him out of it."/span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1"Tom smiled winningly, then extended his hand across the table to shake Borgin's. "It's very nice to meet you, Mr. Borgin," he said. "My name is Tom Riddle, and I work for Borgin and Burke's. My employers are very interested in seeing your artifacts."/span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1""And buying them for far less than they're worth, I reckon," grumbled Borgin, in a perfect imitation of longtime customer Abraxas Malfoy./span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1""Ah, well, that's between you and the owners," said Tom. "My job is simply to see your artifacts, although I can certainly put in a word for their value."/span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1""I like the way this one thinks!" said Borgin to Burke. /span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1"Burke smiled, a rare occurrence. "I believe my colleague and I are in agreement," he said. "You may have the job, if you want it."/span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1"Tom nodded, said thank you, and turned to leave. His hand was on the door handle when he heard Borgin's reedy voice. "Just one more question, if you please Mr. Riddle. What is your blood status?"/span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1"Tom froze, but recovered instantaneously. There was only one answer that would work here, and, he realized, only one answer that would work anywhere. /span/p  
p class="p1"span class="s1""Pureblood, of course," he said, and, turning back around, the newly employed Tom Riddle sailed out the door and back through Knockturn Alley./span/p  
p class="p2" /p 


End file.
